Ace Combat: Planetary Warfare
by Emrald9
Summary: What would the world of Halo look like through the eye's of Pilots? Find out as you follow the adventure of the infamous "Red Tails" Squadron through the eyes of a rookie pilot Nicholas Shepard.


Chapter 1: Combat Status Delta

"Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick, Ni-! "

"I heard you the first time, Damien. What happened?" I asked it was all flooding back, the memories…

"I'm still in the cryo pod, aren't I?" I said, annoyed. I despised Cryo. The cold and isolation inside the pods was unbearable, especially after I had to survive six months on the colony world of Aegis XII., A world constantly frozen.

"Yes" he responded sheepishly. "Hold on one sec, the Thaw was far good reason."

"And that would be…?" I inquired, curious. Damien was a mechanic, so he never had to thaw someone, much less me. Something was up. Something big.

"I'm getting there, hold on."

"Get there faster!" I shouted impatiently. The tight spaces were beginning to get to me.

"Okay, the pod should be opening now."

"Thanks." I replied I glanced around the Cryo Chamber. "Uhh, Damien, There are corpses in here."

"Captain ordered quick-thaw. We lost some…." He replied, sadness in his voice.

[Quick-Thaw: When a ship is under attack, a captain might order a Quick-Thaw, or to unfreeze the frozen occupants inside the Cryo pods at a fast rate. However, this is a huge risk as the accelerated Thaw may overwhelm the bodies' long dormant nerve functions.]

"Got it." I said _"What a horrible way to die." _I thought. Damien's yelling at me brought me out of my morbid thoughts. "Get moving! The ship is under code delta status!"

I was shocked. "What's going-"

Damien cut me off. "No time, Nick. I need you in Repair Bay 6."

"On my way!" I replied.

The _Alexandria_ was one of the few carriers that the UNSC has in supply. It was gigantic, a monolithic creation of metal and fire. Even though the ship was big, the corridors were tight, and the spaces were very cramped. The constant explosions and lack of gravity also attributed to some of my less graceful maneuvers. By the time I had gotten to the Repair Bay, I found Damien at the controls of a Longsword fighter.

"What the hell are you thinking?" I yelled at him.

"Getting ready to fly."

"You're nuts, they'll court-martial us for this!"

"I need a pilot."

I thought about it for a moment. "Is it really that bad? Do we really need to do this?"

"You have no idea." Damien responded.

_Flashback_

_Damien POV_

_The commander had wanted a field report on the Comms array, which hadn't been working ever since we entered the system. Under normal leadership, I would have protested (the self-righteous dicks that they are.) but under Colonel's orders, I wanted to obey for once. He was a decent man and a brilliant commander, and had treated me better than most, who considered me a ticking time bomb. I checked the power grid, and everything was moving smoothly. That usually meant one of two things. _

_Either the Array itself had been damaged in the Slipspace jump, or we were being jammed. I told the captain both of my theories, and he said that during my E.V.A. mission, he would have the crew on Threat level Bravo. Just in case. We both hoped that the Covenant wouldn't find us without our usual protective escort ships. _

_The Alexandria relied on her Fighter/Bomber Air wings to defend her, armed with no weapons herself minus the close range auto-turrets for anti-aircraft fire [also called flack]. So, as we were suiting up for the E.V.A., we heard the launch bay doors open, as the pilots launched in their Longsword fighters. I ignored the radio chatter, focusing on the job that I was about to perform. _

_E.V.A. missions were common, but dangerous. Going out into the vacuum of space was still a dangerous affair, even with the new hardsuits. Anyway, as we finished the prep, I looked around. I knew that Nick was still in Cryo, so I would leave the note in his locker._

_He had one to. It was just in case one of us died in battle. It was a record of everything we owned, and the legal documents to give it to each other in case of death. We had made them as part of a joke a long time ago. But this late into the war, it was turning out to be a practical decision. So many people had died in just the past month alone…_

_I shook my head vigorously, clearing it of all excess thought. I had a job to do. I could mope later. I entered the airlock, my tool harness fastened securely. I fastened the "Fishbowl" E.V.A. helmet atop my head and waited for the airlock to finish the cycle. As it did, I stepped out onto the top of the Alexandria and made my way towards the ships aft section. _

"_So, how is it looking out there Damien?" The captain asked over the radio._

"_I'm almost there, just a few more seconds and I'll see the dish. Did the pilots see anything around the dish? You have quite a few flying around." I replied_

"_Give me a moment….Okay; the pilots say that they see no physical damage to the superstructure of the Dish."_

"_That doesn't mean that it isn't damaged from the inside, sir." I replied in my usual manner of total and utter boredom to cover up my fear of the E.V.A. The space missions always sent me into little bouts of fear. Anyway, putting my fear aside, I headed over to the radar dome to check for internal damage. It was as I had feared._

"_Sir, the radar is fine. We are being jammed." I relayed quickly to Commander Hartford. No sooner had I said the words than a Covenant Ship appeared out of Slipspace. I rushed back inside the safety of the ships Titanium A armor. I heard no radio chatter at all. I could guess what was going on outside without even looking. _

_I knew that the Pilots relied a little too heavily on their radar and without it and commands instructions, they would be big fat targets in the air. I knew that we needed a skilled pilot in the air, and I knew just who to call. I rushed to the Repair bay for an aircraft. All available aircraft probably scrambled so I knew none of those were available. So I had to settle for a slightly damaged aircraft. I looked at the repair roster, and found the one that Nick and I had been fixing. It was mostly ready. Now all I needed was a pilot. And I knew just were to find one…_

Present

Nicks POV

"Whatever! You still want us to fly a damaged Longsword into the front of the covenant fleet. That's damn near suicidal, even for us!" I yelled, breaking Damien's trance.

"Yes." He replied. He always loved one-liners like that.

"Get in the back." I said, annoyed. He smiled, like he always did when he convinced me to help him in his harebrained schemes.

"What's our Callsign for this operation?" he asked. We always had fun deciding on one.

"How about… Blaze?" I suggested. He nodded in agreement.

"Alright, everything checks out. It's time to fly!" I yelled, and hit the throttle full on power.


End file.
